Thursday, August 15, 2013

$1 Spiritual Lessons

I honestly can say I have NO clue where all the time has went.

Katy is now in 6th grade.  For her birthday, she got her own cell phone.  She is turning into more and more of a teenager every day.  She has a friend, who is a boy, that she texts back and forth with daily.  They really are just good friends and I glad to see her cultivate relationships with boys and girls but MAN ALIVE...how did this happen so fast?  Katy had her mid-term grades come home this week.  Straight A's in all subjects.  She is literally SOARING.  She is getting her math really well.  She had mostly 92, 98 and 100.  She had 1 test she got an 84 on and that was the week she missed some school due to her Great Grandpa dying and going to a funeral.  She told me she just hadn't understood that as much but now she does.  Her spelling, vocab and everything else are the same - 100% and high 90's.  She has more confidence in herself...it is so fun to see her maturing.  Even though it breaks my heart that my baby is getting so big, I am soooo grateful to see how happy, kind, loving, thoughtful, giving and precious she is.  Katy's testimony is growing more and more each day.  She works hard on doing right and being an example to those around her.  She has an amazing Spirit and I am truly blessed to be her mom.  I love her and am so blessed that she made me a mom 11 years ago.

Elyse is now in 3rd grade.  Did I just say that?!?  3rd?  Where did all the time with my baby go?  She is growing up too fast as well.  School is going much better in that we realized the ADD and how it is affecting her schooling.  It's amazing how just knowing the root of the problem helps, even though nothing other than that knowledge and how you approach things a little different is all that has changed.  Elyse is soooooo smart.  It scares me sometimes how smart this one is.  Elyse has come out of her shell in so many ways.  She is a social butterfly and has so many friends.  She also has a very tender heart.  She tries to hard to help everyone feel included.  She wants to help anywhere and everywhere she can.  She has come to realize how giving and serving feel so good.  Elyse loves to sing and play the piano, her love for music is very strong.  Lyse is a natural at the piano.  I started giving her lessons and she is just taking off.  She struggled at first and I know at times it will be a continued struggle but I am seeing growth.  She has such a strong love for the gospel and her testimony truly astounds and builds mine.  She loves to drive past the temple and often asks for us to stop and see it.  Her prayers are true, heartfelt and sincere.  She thinks about what she is going to say and shares her inner most soul.   Elyse keeps me on my toes and for that I am so grateful.  Being her mom is one of the biggest blessings in my life.

The other night, we were getting gas.  We are currently at the last days before paychecks.  I only put in $12 of gas just to make sure we had enough to get to the places we needed to go, but it didn't fill the car up by any means.  A man walked up and asked if I had a dollar for him.  He needed oil for his car because it was really low but didn't have enough for it.  I told him no because honestly, I don't have extra at all right now.  As we were driving away, I realized I was teaching my children the WRONG thing.  What if that man really did need oil?  What if his prayers were supposed to be answered through me.  That man had hesitated asking me, I saw it.  What if he had nothing?  What if his car would blow an engine without gas and leave him in a really bad situation?  What if my selfishness was preventing the Lord from blessings this mans life?  In the matter of about 20 seconds all these thoughts flooded me and I HONESTLY felt extreme guilt as I started to pull out of the gas station parking lot.  I knew it was the Spirit speaking to me and I had to act.  I had $11 in my wallet left for the next 4 days.  That was every penny to my name but I also had enough gas and food to last those next 4 days.  I justified in my mind that the Lord tells us to be prudent as well as giving.  We need to know when we can help and when we need to help ourselves and say sorry to others.  Trust me I was justifying away in my mind.  I changed my mind, the Spirit changed my mind.  I found $1 in my purse, turned the car around and went and gave that man the dollar. 

As I got back in the car Elyse and Katy BOTH had so many questions for me.  Katy said, "What if he goes and buys cigarettes with that instead of getting the oil for his car like he said?"  My response, "I am not to judge that.  I am judging based off what he said and what I felt.  I felt like I needed to help him.  It is his choice after that on what he does with the meager amount I had to help him with."  Elyse immediately piped in and said, "Um mom.  I think I owed you a dollar anyway.  When we get home, I will give you that dollar you gave that man.  That way you won't have less and you will have the money you need for the family and we can still know we helped that man."  MELTED. MY. HEART!  I of course told her it was ok and we could count that dollar from our family and that she didn't owe me a dollar.  What amazed me is her desire to help.  I think she felt it too.  Katy is always willing to help out where she can so it amazes me to see Elyse maturing and doing the same thing.  Katy's response was the exact reason I wasn't giving that man the money to begin with.  I know Katy wasn't being a grinch and Elyse santa claus.  I know that Katy would give every penny she has to help others in need.  I also know that we all learned something from that event.  Even if that man wasn't the one that needed that dollar, my family needed to give that dollar.  We all learned a lesson.  I know that I did the right thing.  We all felt the Spirit and knew we had acted as Christ.

I am grateful for little moments like these to share with my children.  I hope they each felt the Spirit in this and had it confirmed even more that our Heavenly Father answers our prayers but many times those answers have to come from others actions.  If we don't follow the promptings we are given, we are not only stunting our Spiritual growth but we are stopping the work of our Heavenly Father.  Yes he will find other means and ways to help those he needs to but we will miss out on the blessings given to those that help.  The Spiritual Blessings I gained from that $1 far exceed anything that I could have spent that $1 on.